Circumstances dictate a suck-it-and-see Autumn Statement – but also one that can transcend its own caution by pointing to a visionary landscape ahead.
The Parliamentary Party has just been through two divisive experiences, and there was evidently no appetite for a third.
A letter to the Parliamentary Conservative Party reveals the ongoing work to fulfil Cameron’s “no MP left behind” promise.
The 1922 Committee advised that the race end a week earlier.
The Executive also chose to reject proposals to extend the shortlist, or to require that it include a female candidate.
The Chairman’s letter promises “additional benefits to enhance the membership experience”. Wouldn’t it be most enhanced by members having a bigger say?
The Chairman of the ’22 reminds voters that staying in the EU means continued integration.
Plus: Cameron blew it. So did Hammond. And: My friendship with Tony Benn.
It will clearly be unsatisfactory if Lord Feldman and others are not interviewed at all, and that he himself will submit evidence to people who report to him.
New MPs Antoinette Sandbach and James Cleverly are elected to the ’22 Executive.
The smoother the co-operation between Number 10 and the ’22 is if such a plan is put, the more likely it is to pass.
It tells this site that “the wider party would have to be involved”.
Cameron’s “vow” to Scotland, apparently at the expense of England, has caused deep unease.
A senior source told me yesterday that “we are determined to put our best foot forward” – and compared the Carswell defection to a family bereavement.